Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2009
When King Mindon (reigned 1853–78) transferred his court to Mandalay and began to build his palace there in 1857, many parts of the teak buildings were brought from the old capital of Amarapura. In the hundred years before that, the palace had already been disassembled and moved from Ava to Amarapura and back again before King Shwebo Min finally reassembled the royal buildings at Amarapura in 1837. Each time, complex wood structures covered with gilt carvings were taken apart and transported to the new royal centre. When it was re-erected, embellishments were added, and the whole refurbished with new paint and gilding.